The number of Paramount+ global subscribers grew by 7.3m in the fourth quarter of 2021 to reach 32.8m, ViacomCBS executives reported on Tuesday (15), when it also emerged that ViacomCBS will rebrand as Paramount from Wednesday.
Paramount+ will expand to France this year and will be available to all Canal+ Ciné Séries French subscribers. It will be the home to Showtime and encompass Paramount Pictures films, Paramount+ originals, and content from Nickelodeon, MTV and CBS Studios.
This content includes The Godfather limited series spin-off The Offer; one-hour drama The Man Who Fell To Earth starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris; scripted anthology series The First Lady starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson; musical series Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies; and Fatal Attraction starring Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson.
Overall revenue at Paramount, whose full name is Paramount Global, increased by 16% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. Steaming added 9.4m global members for more than 56m. Global streaming revenue grew 48% year-on-year to $1.3bn driven by growth in subscription (84% year-on-year) and advertising (26% year-on-year).
Paramount plans to spend $6bn on content by 2024 and while that still lags some way behind Netflix’s $17bn annual spend it does mark a significant increase from $2.2bn in 2021.
An additional 10m Pluto TV global monthly active users pushed subscription levels on the AVoD platform to 64m as revenue grew by 45% year-on-year. During the quarter Pluto TV launched in Italy and announced a strategic partnership with Nordic Entertainment Group to debut Pluto TV in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway this year.
On the studio side, Paramount Pictures revenue gained 61% year-on-year driven by higher theatrical and licensing revenues. Fourth quarter titles included Covid- delayed Clifford The Big Red Dog while PAW Patrol: The Movie opened in the third quarter.
In highlights from the investor call it emerged that Paramount+ will become the sole first pay TV window for all Paramount films (currently the pay 1 window is split between Paramount+ and Epix).
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos arrives in 2023 and will lead the first of three film instalments of the sci-fi property. Previously announced Paramount/eOne co-production Untitled Animated Transformers Film with Josh Cooley attached to direct will debut theatrically on July 19, 2024.
A Quiet Place Part III is in the works and will open in 2025, while studio heads are in talks to bring back the cast of the USS Enterprise crew under Chris Pine for the next Star Trek film instalment scheduled to open theatrically on December 22, 2023. A third Sonic The Hedgehog feature and a live-action series based on the property are in the works.
Paramount+ and Paramount stablemate CBS Studios are lining up Australian series NCIS: Sydney, the first iteration of the NCIS procedural to be based outside the US. It is set to debut internationally on Paramount+ in 2023.
Upcoming international titles include prequel series Sexy Beast (UK), a prequel series to the 2000 film that centres on the early London escapades of Gal Dove ad Don Logan (played in the film by Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley); German thriller Simon Beckett’s The Chemistry Of Death to shoot in the UK; UK production Gentleman In Moscow co-produced by ViacomCBS International Studios and eOne; and Lee Joon-ik’s South Korean sci-fi Yonder, presented by CJ ENM’s streaming platform TVING and ViacomCBS, and produced by Doodoong Pictures and CJ ENM.
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